Featured Why are Mormons not considered real Christians?

[AgnosticBoy]

I had a talk with 3 Mormons a few weeks ago. I liked the way they explained their faith. One guy said that he believes both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and that the Mormon Bible was just additional revelation. I had never dealt with any Mormons as an agnostic, but in my Christian days I was taught to just ignore them. But now that I've been agnostic for years, for whatever reason I was more open to learning about their view.

What came to mind is why wouldn't God continue revealing himself in this day. Why stop at the book of Revelation?

For Discussion...
Why do many Christians think Mormons are not real Christians? What objections do they have to the Mormon faith?

 

[Scooter]

Mormons have beliefs that contradict Biblical teachings. They believe Jesus was a created being and not God in the flesh. They also believe Jesus and Satan are spiritual brothers. Mormons believe God was once a good Mormon who became a God. Their teachings suggest good Mormons today can one day become a God and be given a planet to populate through their many wives. Here's a link that explains their beliefs: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/mormons-believe-god/

 

[AgnosticBoy]

It's a given that they have different teachings since they have this additional revelation, but the contradiction is a deal breaker. Thanks for reminding me of that. Any additional information allegedly from the Christian God (as Joseph Smith claimed) should be consistent with the Bible's teachings.

I've also seen another angle where Christians bring up the past of Joseph Smith. If Smith's character was bad, could be be a genuine prophet? Among some of the things people bring up is the way he practiced polygamy said it was some sort of calling from God. Among his dozens of wives was a 14 year-old girl. A lot of people would see this as being no different than other spiritual leaders that took advantage of women and children.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

One guy said that he believes both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and that the Mormon Bible was just additional revelation.

One of their young-20s missionaries I talked with said something very similar. He said, more scripture is a good thing.

Another missionary said, Joseph Smith was just a messenger, the point is Jesus.


PS I'm going to try to pull a picture of a Mormon missionary name tag in which the name Jesus Christ is bigger than anything else. is pretty much the same size as the Missionary’s Name.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

The Mormons look like they consider themselves Christians.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Mormons believe God was once a good Mormon who became a God. Their teachings suggest good Mormons today can one day become a God and be given a planet to populate through their many wives. Here's a link that explains their beliefs: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/mormons-believe-god/

Every religion has weird beliefs. For example, I remember Steve's younger sister asking, If someone has braces, will they have braces in heaven? Okay, she wasn't that mature person, certainly not at her age. But it does bring up a deeper question, once a married couple is in heaven, at what point in their walk with each other are they resurrected in heaven? They might both desire to be younger than their most senior years, but how much younger?

And I'm assuming the "Gospel Coalition" is evangelical. It certainly sounds like it it, and this is fine.

But in addition, are they mainstream Christian sites such as Lutheran or Presbyterian which you might also feel comfortable recommending?

 

[Scooter]

But in addition, are they mainstream Christian sites such as Lutheran or Presbyterian which you might also feel comfortable recommending?

The only church I could recommend would be a Bible believing church. However, most churches claim to be Bible believing. Unfortunately many are not. I recommend attending a church and listen to what they preach. Even as a Baptist, there are some. Artist churches I wouldn’t recommend.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

If Smith's character was bad, could be be a genuine prophet? Among some of the things people bring up is the way he practiced polygamy said it was some sort of calling from God. Among his dozens of wives was a 14 year-old girl.

First off, I want churches today to get good at best practice as far as preventing sexual abuse. And same for the Boy Scouts, and the Girl Scouts. I think both are now called Scouting America, and the new name is fine with me.

And yes, it looks like Joseph Smith was an abuser.

In addition, the guy previously had fortune hunting schemes. So, he certainly could have cooked up Mormonism as a get-rich-quick scheme. If so, it would constitute one of the few religions that started as a con, instead of urban legend. Although Mormons of the 1900s and 2000s are sincere persons.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Honestly, the one time I did look into Mormonism was when I was writing a research paper on polygamy. The Mormons were probably the first major group of Americans to practice polygamy and they were persecuted for it. Some time in 1890 I believe, the Mormons did away with polygamy (at least the mainstream) in exchange for Utah becoming a state.

This also may be more of a stereotype, but interestingly Mormons in Utah seem to make good businessmen. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsmen comes to mind.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

It's a given that they have different teachings since they have this additional revelation, but the contradiction is a deal breaker.

But isn't taking the literal view of the Bible as baseline.

And whereas that's a close second among Christians, the most common viewpoint is that the Bible is inspired word of God, but not literal.

will find Gallup poll

per next page, only 1 out of 4 Christians believe Bible is the "actual word" of God